A Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake making it difficult to tell where snake ends and rock begins.
Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake Extreme Camouflage
Category: Viperidae
Arizona Black Rattlesnake from Greenlee County
An Arizona Black Rattlesnake resting in partial cover after an exceptionally rainy few days. In this area, along the eastern edge of their range in Arizona, the species can look a bit different. The light bands on this individual, for instance, are wide, in some cases as wide as the darker blotches they surround, and the snake may never darken (much). This is typical for the area, though, as most of the photos you may see of Arizona Black Rattlesnakes online or in field guides are from a handful of more central locations.
Gravid Speckled Rattlesnake At Rest
A Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake resting in the shade outside its summer aestivation den. It’s one of a handful that gather here each year to hide from the heat and gestate.
Mojave Rattlesnake Stayin Cool
A young Mojave Rattlesnake at rest, lifted just off the surface of the warm sand to get a little air flow. Thermoregulation is far from just “sunning” – much of the activity of reptiles in the desert during the summer is about getting cooler, rather than warmer.
Fer De Lance On The Trail
I was on a night hike in the Amazon and just about to step over this knee-high buttress when I noticed it was occupied. A young Fer De Lance (Bothrops atrox) was waiting on top, but I was not the rodent it was hoping to come along. The broken green and black shapes in its pattern would have made this easy to miss.
Tiger Rattlesnake From The Border Area
A relatively colorful Tiger Rattlesnake found in Santa Cruz County, Arizona awhile back. These rattlesnakes are common in the thornscrub hills along the Arizona/Mexico border.
A Brown Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes in the Phoenix area aren’t all grey. Some can be reddish or have hints of orange, and some rich brown tones like this one.
Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake in Bighorn Mountains
A Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake from a mountain range in western Arizona. This is one of a couple seen on a sunrise hike on what would be a very hot day. It was spotted crossing a wash from a sandy rise in the center, where it had likely spent the night in ambush. As temperatures approached 100˚F at around 7am, this snake needed to get to deep cover, and it knew right where to go.
Arizona Black Rattlesnake In The Grass
An Arizona Black Rattlesnake resting in partial cover. These snakes spend a lot of time on the surface, hiding in and as shadows to evade detection by predators and prey.
Arizona Black Rattlesnake In The Sun
A large Blacktailed Rattlesnake from the southeastern corner of Arizona. These snakes can be beautiful – a high contrast black and yellow with rainbow iridescence in the sunlight.
